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Related Experiment Videos

Autobiographical memory specificity and affect regulation: an experimental approach.

Filip Raes1, Dirk Hermans, An de Decker

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Leuven, Belgium. filip.raes@psy.kuleuven.ac.be

Emotion (Washington, D.C.)
|August 6, 2003
PubMed
Summary

Recalling negative events with less specific autobiographical memories (AM) reduces emotional distress. High specificity in autobiographical memory retrieval is linked to greater unpleasantness and stress following negative experiences.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Social Psychology

Background:

  • The affect-regulation hypothesis proposes that autobiographical memory (AM) specificity serves to minimize negative affect.
  • Previous research suggests a link between memory retrieval and emotional regulation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate J. M. G. Williams's (1996) affect-regulation hypothesis.
  • To examine the relationship between autobiographical memory specificity and the affective impact of negative events.

Main Methods:

  • Participants recalled a negative event.
  • Subjective stress levels were reported.
  • The specificity of autobiographical memory retrieval was assessed.
  • Participants rated the unpleasantness of unprompted memories of the event.

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Main Results:

  • Negative events elicited higher subjective stress in participants with high-specific autobiographical memory (AM) compared to low-specific participants.
  • High-specific AM participants reported more unpleasant unprompted memories of the negative event.
  • Lower specificity in AM retrieval was associated with reduced affective impact from negative events.

Conclusions:

  • The findings support the affect-regulation model concerning autobiographical memory specificity.
  • Retrieving less specific autobiographical memories appears to mitigate the emotional consequences of negative experiences.
  • Future research should adopt a functional perspective when examining autobiographical memory specificity.